Hello,
I am currently doing my GCSEs and I am very confused. I want to be a doctor when I'm older however recently after looking it up, the chance is so low. I think I read that last year or something there was 10.6 applicants per place or something. I have a long time to go so idk if I should try get work experience or something (i'm 14).

I am very smart and I get high grades, i'm aiming for 8s and 9s in GCSE, I go to a normal school though, not grammar or private etc

Someone honestly tell me if i stand a chance and if getting into medicine is low chance because loads of people will have high grades

(Original post by peeked)
Hello,
I am currently doing my GCSEs and I am very confused. I want to be a doctor when I'm older however recently after looking it up, the chance is so low. I think I read that last year or something there was 10.6 applicants per place or something. I have a long time to go so idk if I should try get work experience or something (i'm 14).

I am very smart and I get high grades, i'm aiming for 8s and 9s in GCSE, I go to a normal school though, not grammar or private etc

Someone honestly tell me if i stand a chance and if getting into medicine is low chance because loads of people will have high grades

Think about the small details later on - firstly focus on getting good grades and while you probably won't be able to find work experience as a 14 year old perhaps try and see if that's what you really want to do? Otherwise just enjoy your last non hellish year of education.

(Original post by peeked)
Hello,
I am currently doing my GCSEs and I am very confused. I want to be a doctor when I'm older however recently after looking it up, the chance is so low. I think I read that last year or something there was 10.6 applicants per place or something. I have a long time to go so idk if I should try get work experience or something (i'm 14).

I am very smart and I get high grades, i'm aiming for 8s and 9s in GCSE, I go to a normal school though, not grammar or private etc

Someone honestly tell me if i stand a chance and if getting into medicine is low chance because loads of people will have high grades

It really is impossible to tell you whether you are going to get into medicine at this point - if anyone could accurately predict that sort of thing they would make a lot of money.*

That number of applicants per place is true of many courses, not just medicine, and varies by university.

If you don't try and get work experience and go for it then you will never know, and may regret not doing it when you get your results. This certainly is something you will need to work hard for, and doubting yourself and spending time worrying that you won't get in is not a good use of your time. Without doing any work experience it really is impossible for you to even know you want to pursue this career.

(Original post by nomophobia)
Think about the small details later on - firstly focus on getting good grades and while you probably won't be able to find work experience as a 14 year old perhaps try and see if that's what you really want to do? Otherwise just enjoy your last non hellish year of education.

(Original post by Charlotte49)
It really is impossible to tell you whether you are going to get into medicine at this point - if anyone could accurately predict that sort of thing they would make a lot of money.*

That number of applicants per place is true of many courses, not just medicine, and varies by university.

If you don't try and get work experience and go for it then you will never know, and may regret not doing it when you get your results. This certainly is something you will need to work hard for, and doubting yourself and spending time worrying that you won't get in is not a good use of your time. Without doing any work experience it really is impossible for you to even know you want to pursue this career.

thank you i will try at get work experience but being 14 its kinda hard, maybe in a year, im mainly trying to focus on my gcses, maybe i will try and stop worrying to ahead but i does bug me a lot because of the competition etc.

(Original post by peeked)
thank you i will try at get work experience but being 14 its kinda hard, maybe in a year, im mainly trying to focus on my gcses, maybe i will try and stop worrying to ahead but i does bug me a lot because of the competition etc.

You can maybe get some sort of related care experience or volunteering but it will be tricky when you're under 16. It's worth a look, I know I did a few different types of medical/care work experience at 15 or so, so it is doable. If you don't have any experience at all before you choose your A levels it's going to be very difficult to tailor them to the degree you want to do.

Realistically there is nothing you can do about the competition. You either work hard to try and meet the requirements or you don't bother and find something else to do. Uni is 4 years away so you have plenty of time to think about it, but if you're worrying, you're better to try and find out if this is definitely what you want to do sooner rather than later.

(Original post by peeked)
Hello,
I am currently doing my GCSEs and I am very confused. I want to be a doctor when I'm older however recently after looking it up, the chance is so low. I think I read that last year or something there was 10.6 applicants per place or something. I have a long time to go so idk if I should try get work experience or something (i'm 14).

I am very smart and I get high grades, i'm aiming for 8s and 9s in GCSE, I go to a normal school though, not grammar or private etc

Someone honestly tell me if i stand a chance and if getting into medicine is low chance because loads of people will have high grades

Its not just grades remember being a doctor will need some serious mental strength as you see horrible things. This includes peoples organs, blood, tumours, gangrene (rotting tissue). Along with this peoples lives are in yours hands and unfortunately it pretty likely they people are going to die in your care due to unforeseen problems. Also the gore you see in movies is nothing like in real life. That's the reason you get paid the big bucks + the 5 years in uni plus training.

If you really want to become a doctor, then that's great because it means that you know what you want to be. People used to keep telling me to become a doctor and I didn't realise it, but being a doctor is just not for me and I was being very stressed figuring out what I want to do, so this is an important decision for you to make - HOWEVER, it does not mean you have to make a decision now.

The best advice I can offer is to do everything possible that will leave you with a wide range of options. For example, if you ever get the chance to take a first aid course - do it. If you ever get the chance to be involved in helping at a parent's evening night - do it. If you ever get the chance to do some contest or whatever - do it. If you have any hobbies or something that you care about (e.g. blogging, piano, sports [for teamwork etc or just for fun] whatever) - keep doing it. But don't let these things stress you out - but I guess stress is inevitable, what I mean is don't think too much about it but DEFINITELY don't miss out on these opportunities - some of them are once-in-a-lifetime chances. Charlotte49 offered some good advice about how doing Work Experience will allow you to get a feel for the kind of work that being a doctor involves. I wouldn't get too bogged down in this "competition" business at this stage but it is good you're aware of it - all you need to do is keep the options available to you and be proactive JUST IN CASE something happens. One of the other ways of keeping your options is, as aforementioned, to do well in your GCSEs, which is something you should be focusing on. Trust me, no one's going to get 8s and 9s without working at least a few hours every day. In fact, having good study habits now will really help later on. If you find the going is getting tough, then deal with it. There are various ways of dealing with things but one of the hard things is to deal with family problems and stuff - it's not enough to just brush them aside. Things can build up. Well that's enough out of me for now...

Honestly, I'm the same. I just got into year 11 (I'm 15) and started thinking about A-levels, but honestly, don't stress too hard about it yet. Work hard at GCSE level, as you already know what you have to take at a level to get into medicine (bio and chem. Maths is preferred but not required, i'm doing geography cause I'm doing further maths at GCSE already) so there is no room for speculation really. Instead, try and rack up awards and stuff that will help you anywhere you end up. See if you can do a DofE award (if you aren't already), if you have time then join the army cadets (they get lots of opportunities to do extra qualifications) and definitely, definitely get some work experience. I'm doing mine with my GP (somehow, details haven't been sorted yet) but if you can't get anywhere that's kind of medical, universities would get it, I mean who's expecting a 14-16 year old to work in a hospital, right? But yea, if you can't get in, find volunteering instead. Having some kind of job shows reliability, patience and that you have a work ethic! good luck

Oh yeah, about the awards and stuff. See if your school offers any level 1 qualifications that you can do in your own free time, even if they aren't exactly relevant (extra qualifications show that you're hard working!) for example, I have a level 1 music qualification (graded distinction) that I got in year 9 from doing about 20 slides in total so...look into it

(Original post by peeked)
ok thank you, i am definitely focusing on getting high grades, idk many other careers that require good grades and get high pay. that's y i wanna do it really + i like science

thanks for replying tho

If you just want high pay - medicine is NOT the career to be looking at - it is a very demanding career and you only really get the money towards the end of your career - and if you wanna go to a top uni, lots of courses require top grades - I have a friend who needed AAA to get into computer science at Manchester. And even nursing is AAB at Manchester (just some examples)

(Original post by Kiritsugu)
If you really want to become a doctor, then that's great because it means that you know what you want to be. People used to keep telling me to become a doctor and I didn't realise it, but being a doctor is just not for me and I was being very stressed figuring out what I want to do, so this is an important decision for you to make - HOWEVER, it does not mean you have to make a decision now.

The best advice I can offer is to do everything possible that will leave you with a wide range of options. For example, if you ever get the chance to take a first aid course - do it. If you ever get the chance to be involved in helping at a parent's evening night - do it. If you ever get the chance to do some contest or whatever - do it. If you have any hobbies or something that you care about (e.g. blogging, piano, sports [for teamwork etc or just for fun] whatever) - keep doing it. But don't let these things stress you out - but I guess stress is inevitable, what I mean is don't think too much about it but DEFINITELY don't miss out on these opportunities - some of them are once-in-a-lifetime chances. Charlotte49 offered some good advice about how doing Work Experience will allow you to get a feel for the kind of work that being a doctor involves. I wouldn't get too bogged down in this "competition" business at this stage but it is good you're aware of it - all you need to do is keep the options available to you and be proactive JUST IN CASE something happens. One of the other ways of keeping your options is, as aforementioned, to do well in your GCSEs, which is something you should be focusing on. Trust me, no one's going to get 8s and 9s without working at least a few hours every day. In fact, having good study habits now will really help later on. If you find the going is getting tough, then deal with it. There are various ways of dealing with things but one of the hard things is to deal with family problems and stuff - it's not enough to just brush them aside. Things can build up. Well that's enough out of me for now...

Thank you, with the study habits i have definitely started studying a lot, for example rn i just did some french for around 30 mins (it was like 9pm Sunday morning, people in my class probs havent even got up) and planning to do some later. I study a lot, and tbh when I start studying I honestly don't think of it as a chore, i quite enjoy studying. After school i normally spend around an hour on some stuff at school that were doing or something that I found interesting and is in my curriculum. I must admit french is quite hard but im trying to spend a good few hours a week of my spare time on it. I find English kinda difficult because it's so unstructured for example, 2+2 will always be 4 but a sentence like 'The man wept sadly' can be assesed in so many ways. On that note i'm really good at both maths and science, and science is my fav subject.

I just want to have a really secure job when I'm older to do with something academic and that has good pay. I want to go to uni for getting the good job bc i feel im fully capable and I worry because it makes me wonder what I should be doing now to get there.

(Original post by Abbie131)
Honestly, I'm the same. I just got into year 11 (I'm 15) and started thinking about A-levels, but honestly, don't stress too hard about it yet. Work hard at GCSE level, as you already know what you have to take at a level to get into medicine (bio and chem. Maths is preferred but not required, i'm doing geography cause I'm doing further maths at GCSE already) so there is no room for speculation really. Instead, try and rack up awards and stuff that will help you anywhere you end up. See if you can do a DofE award (if you aren't already), if you have time then join the army cadets (they get lots of opportunities to do extra qualifications) and definitely, definitely get some work experience. I'm doing mine with my GP (somehow, details haven't been sorted yet) but if you can't get anywhere that's kind of medical, universities would get it, I mean who's expecting a 14-16 year old to work in a hospital, right? But yea, if you can't get in, find volunteering instead. Having some kind of job shows reliability, patience and that you have a work ethic! good luck

Oh yeah, about the awards and stuff. See if your school offers any level 1 qualifications that you can do in your own free time, even if they aren't exactly relevant (extra qualifications show that you're hard working!) for example, I have a level 1 music qualification (graded distinction) that I got in year 9 from doing about 20 slides in total so...look into it

I didn't even know what the DofE award was so I really need to start looking into these, atm if I think of seriously going for medicine, i will do Chem,BIo,Maths and Physics at a-level but the prob is idk if these a levels will limit me on my degrees i can take, my dad said that sciences will open doors because they ar e liked by unis etc. I will definitely try and get some qualifications like urs because even though they dont relate directly to medicine im sure they are still looked at by unis etc. Gj for getting work experience with ur GP, that's pretty good. I live next to a doctor surgery xD legit so I might try and get some work experience but I will wait like maybe a few months etc. Good luck with ur GCSEs!

(Original post by peeked)
Thank you, with the study habits i have definitely started studying a lot, for example rn i just did some french for around 30 mins (it was like 9pm Sunday morning, people in my class probs havent even got up) and planning to do some later. I study a lot, and tbh when I start studying I honestly don't think of it as a chore, i quite enjoy studying. After school i normally spend around an hour on some stuff at school that were doing or something that I found interesting and is in my curriculum. I must admit french is quite hard but im trying to spend a good few hours a week of my spare time on it. I find English kinda difficult because it's so unstructured for example, 2+2 will always be 4 but a sentence like 'The man wept sadly' can be assesed in so many ways. On that note i'm really good at both maths and science, and science is my fav subject.

I just want to have a really secure job when I'm older to do with something academic and that has good pay. I want to go to uni for getting the good job bc i feel im fully capable and I worry because it makes me wonder what I should be doing now to get there.

By studying daily, you'll actually have less work to do in the long-run. That gives you more time for other stuff such as DoE, work experience, volunteering, UKCAT etc etc. These kinds of things are what you should be doing for a medicine-related degree. It's very good to hear you like studying and are actually waking up and doing some in the morning - I never did that but I now try and do that because it really helps.

The job of a doctor is well-respected universally and will be accepted anywhere. They have a secure and good pay and it's very rewarding - the only downside is that it can be quite stressful. I think the stress stems somewhere from politics to a certain level - because if there were loads of doctors, then the work could be spread out and it would be flexible for patients as well as doctors. The problem is the economy and the cost of training a doctor. If we spent more money on that from tax and stuff, and all around started being more efficient, we could have a better health-care system. I think in the long-run it would be better.

But yeah, don't let anything stop you from becoming what you want to be.

Hi, I've applied for Medicine this year and although I did do AS Levels in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics I wish I did another contrasting subject instead of a science. You must have Chemistry and most unis favour Biology but you don't have to do all the sciences and Maths. Some will require two sciences and Maths or Physics and some will just require the two sciences. (When you get to college, look at entry requirements at unis you like the look of) Think about your choices, I know you're only young but I hated Physics and wished I took something else I was good at like History for AS Level as I only got a B in Physics. Some unis actually like to see another interest as opposed to just the sciences, so think about it! It's a lot to do in the first year, where 4 AS Levels are usually necessary for Medicine where you can drop 1 subject for year 2

Just from personal experience I would say do the third and fourth subject you love/will get a good grade in. Don't make your life harder and do maths and physics just because it looks good. Most subjects look good if you can justify why you did them.

I did geography at AS mainly because it was an easy A and allowed me to focus on my other subjects but also because I enjoyed it and it broadens my knowledge so much more then a science (a level science doesn't apply a lot to the real world). I'm doing psychology at A2 because it has an ethics and debate topic which is very useful for medicine, it also has a large research methods sections which teaches how to be critical of research/the formal way it's published etc. You also start to look at real world experiments and case studies and how to apply them to theories which I find interesting.

(Original post by slowdive)
Hi, I've applied for Medicine this year and although I did do AS Levels in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics I wish I did another contrasting subject instead of a science. You must have Chemistry and most unis favour Biology but you don't have to do all the sciences and Maths. Some will require two sciences and Maths or Physics and some will just require the two sciences. (When you get to college, look at entry requirements at unis you like the look of) Think about your choices, I know you're only young but I hated Physics and wished I took something else I was good at like History for AS Level as I only got a B in Physics. Some unis actually like to see another interest as opposed to just the sciences, so think about it! It's a lot to do in the first year, where 4 AS Levels are usually necessary for Medicine where you can drop 1 subject for year 2

Nice I hope you get in, however I hope you don't mind but can I ask you, what universities did you apply to and what are your a levels and how much of a chance you think you have.
Sorry for being a bit personal, i am just curious

(Original post by nomophobia)
If you just want high pay - medicine is NOT the career to be looking at - it is a very demanding career and you only really get the money towards the end of your career - and if you wanna go to a top uni, lots of courses require top grades - I have a friend who needed AAA to get into computer science at Manchester. And even nursing is AAB at Manchester (just some examples)

(Original post by peeked)
I didn't even know what the DofE award was so I really need to start looking into these, atm if I think of seriously going for medicine, i will do Chem,BIo,Maths and Physics at a-level but the prob is idk if these a levels will limit me on my degrees i can take, my dad said that sciences will open doors because they ar e liked by unis etc. I will definitely try and get some qualifications like urs because even though they dont relate directly to medicine im sure they are still looked at by unis etc. Gj for getting work experience with ur GP, that's pretty good. I live next to a doctor surgery xD legit so I might try and get some work experience but I will wait like maybe a few months etc. Good luck with ur GCSEs!

Good luck to you too! Another thing I just though of would be to look at NCS (national citizenship service) when you're 15-17. Not only does it sound like an amazing experience, but you get qualifications for it too. http://www.ncsyes.co.uk/ check it out I'm looking to do it this summer after my exams, but we'll see. Do as much as you can without stressing out. And I would say your dad is right, sciences are facilitating subjects, but make sure you have a back up plan kinda thing. I wouldn't go for all sciences tbh, although maths is a good one to keep. Maybe consider doing an essay based topic, just not general studies or critical thinking, cause unis hate those, especially russell group ones. Before making any decisions, wait for your school's sixth form open evening or wait for a college one etc to see what you really want and if its for you. To help you decide, they should give you a prospectus, then you can start looking at specs and past papers and you can make sure that you really want to do it. You have to make sure that your a-levels are in subjects you reaaalllyy enjoy, cause you'll likely have a lesson or two of each every day. Plus, can't do any harm, if you do a levels you like, that'll lead you to a degree you like and then a job you'll love! just don't give up on it yet

Sorry for late reply but thanks to everyone who commented there was lots of useful information. I'm definitely going to study hard right now to make it easier for later and try get some work experience/ qualifications soon. Thanks guys it was really helpful